hey everyone! im a sophmore in high school and im going into the coast guard. i know several guys that went in and retired from the uscg and they loved it. boating and border patrol is my style of thing! anyway, just wondering if there are any coasties on here! thanks everyone!

hey there. Im currently in the Coast Guard right now. Been in 5 years, right out of highschool. The only advice that i could give you is to "choose your rate, and choose your fate" If you are looking to advance fast and make money than talk to me and we can get you into a job that will do that for you. Also make sure you talk to your recruiter and get a gauranteed A school out of Bootcamp. Any other question that shoot me a message. Good luck and happy new year.

ok wow thanks man. yeah i talked to a recruiter and all he told me was to not get any tattoos, and dont get an MIP or any other type of law trouble. what type of job are you talking about? what is A school?

you can get tattoos, just try not to get any below the elbow or the knee or on your neck. A school is where you need to go to learn your job that you will be doing in the coast guard. If you do not go directly to a school when you are done boot then they will send you randomly out to any coast guard unit that needs you. Like me i got stationed on a 210' cutter right out of boot and was scrubbing decks and paint, primer, and sanding everything there was on that damn thing. So, it is in your best interest to look into A schools that you can get into right out of boot. You can also sometime get a signing bonus so ask your recruiter about that also. i know of some people that got up to 5k. Let me know if you have any more questions.

Does your high school have an ROTC program?When I was in the CG they gave promotional preference to ROTC types,they were promoted to E-3 straight out of boot as opposed to E-2.Not sure if they still do it but its worth a look."Choose your rate,choose your fate"' is appropriate.If you are mechanically inclined you should look into the MK rate,Engines,boilers,HVAC,outboards,hydraulics etc..You will spend time"In the hole" or engine room if you do,most likely.But you will get lots of exposure to all types of machinery.If Electronics interests you look into being an ET,with the world becoming increasingly more "wired"this is the rate that would give you a leg up in that field should you decide to go back to civilian life.Be aware that some rates,like Gunner's mate,spend a lot of time on ships,a lot of sea time.If you don't choose an "A"school you will go where they want you and do what they tell you,usually deck force or engineering.Both dept's will start you out cleaning and painting,deck will have you cleaning bird poop,scraping barnicles,sweeping decks and painting anything that doesn't move.Engineering will start you off scrubbing bilges and painting anything that doesn't move.If you have an idea what you want get yourself signed up for it and take control of you future to the degree that you can,its still military and you will still be sent and assigned as needed but at least you will be doing it on terms you initiated.

Also,don't forget to take advantage of the benefits like college tuition,get all the info on the GI bill and thing the military offers.Its changed quite a bit since I was in,so I can't tell you what there is precisely,but from what I hear it has improved considerably.My time in the Coast Guard was the best and hardest times of my life and I wish I could do it all over again.Wether you make it a career or not iyou will always remember you days in the CG.Good luck.

wow. thanks for all of the information. i havent really decided where i want to go with the cg as far as job, but i want to do something with driving the smaller boats so i can become a tugboat captain or ferry captain after i leave. i wouldnt mind working on outboards either. what was your job in the cg dogman?

silverbullet32 wrote:wow. thanks for all of the information. i havent really decided where i want to go with the cg as far as job, but i want to do something with driving the smaller boats so i can become a tugboat captain or ferry captain after i leave. i wouldnt mind working on outboards either. what was your job in the cg dogman?

I'm a Boatswains mate 2nd class with 6 years in. If you want to drive boats, big and small, look into going Boatswain Mate. Thats all BM's are supposed to do but we get a TON of other random jobs. (when you join you'll see what I mean) A bonus is BM's are the only rate that can be an Officer in Charge of a small cutter or small boat station when you reach the upper ranks. It's a HUGE responsibility but very rewarding. BM's also do a fair amount of Law Enforcement depending on the unit you are attached to.